AuthorTopic: THE FIRST PART (Read 8366 times)

I'm in a band called Death Cab for Cutie. I share this band with three friends: Ben Gibbard, who sings, plays the guitar and writes the songs; Nick Harmer, who plays the bass guitar and keeps us all on the level; and Jason McGerr, who drums with a ferocity in concert with his last name. We've been a band since December of 1997. Our first show was in a living room in Bellingham, WA, the grey college town where we met. Bellingham is just south of the border and is sometimes referred to as Baja, Canada.

This document is a studio log, a diary, a recording of a recording. We're making our fifth proper record, entitled 'Plans'. It's nice to have the title part out of the way before the recording begins, although the name makes me wonder if we'll ever stop planning. As in, we should have called it 'Executions' or 'Finished Product' or something.

Like the other four albums, I'm producing, recording and mixing the record myself. But a few things are new: Most notably, we've left our label, the mightily modest Barsuk records, to have a round in the majors. 'Plans' will be coming out on Atlantic, probably on September 13. This is both exciting and terrifying. The road we're now on is paved with the bones of our friends' bands, but our position is quite a good one since we've sold many records at Barsuk.

The move to Atlantic comes with a real recording budget and some actual pressure. I've chosen the studios and built the schedules carefully, hoping to maximize the first and minimize the latter. We'll be tracking for four weeks during March at Longview Farms, a sprawling farmhouse / barn residential studio in rural Massachusetts. Overdubs and mad scientist work will happen in Seattle at the Hall of Justice (my own studio) and Bob Lang's place. Mixes begin in May at Smart Studios in Madison, Wisconsin. Mastering is still in the air, but it's likely to happen the last few days in May, since I have a June 1 delivery date.

I like performances and people: Songs sound better when people are involved. I get flustered when equipment gets in the way.